zlacker

My job two jobs ago did start out with their eyes open. I was up front about it and it was a question on the application. I wasn't going to lie. They told me it wouldn't be a problem .... and it wasn't. Until someone else found out and wasn't so non-judgemental. that's kind of how this goes-- whoever I first start working with, whoever is doing the hiring, whatever. I get the green light. I get hired even. It's ... what happens next.

You got new coworkers? A lot of people start digging. I don't survive that digging.

Part of the problem is I went to prison for eight years. And I am just a computer nerd with no criminal background, I've never even had a parking ticket. I act like every other nerd in a dev environment. I love hardware, I'm very passionate about operating systems, making them run juust right.

Where it's a problem is when people look me up and are like, holy cow this is a hardened criminal! but I act... so... normal. and you wouldn't guess. it actually flips people out. it feels like I'm lying about a whole lot of things suddenly. I must be. I have to be. and it goes downhill from there. Whatever trust I earned gets taken away because people are judgmental and often not reasonable about that judgement.

>>justso+(OP)
I know it's a possibility, so all I can do is mitigate the risk. I've intentionally focused on very small companies (<5 employees typically) where I almost always report to the top. I put myself in positions where I'm not just rank and file, but am essentially a hard dependency. Also in contracting roles you're usually not around that long. It's tedious finding work, but so is looking over your shoulder.